California State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH)

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Free Report) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 840,827 shares of the information technology service provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,554 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $64,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CTSH. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 429,660 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $33,041,000 after purchasing an additional 144,535 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 436,509 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $33,568,000 after acquiring an additional 85,539 shares during the last quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 50,108 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $3,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,134 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,219,380 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $93,770,000 after acquiring an additional 31,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,784,668 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $214,141,000 after acquiring an additional 705,946 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Down 0.4%

CTSH stock traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.30. 9,241,271 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,582,996. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The business's 50 day moving average price is $75.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.95. Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. has a 52-week low of $63.79 and a 52-week high of $90.82.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. The company's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 25th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology service provider to repurchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions's payout ratio is currently 26.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CTSH shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $103.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, a professional services company, provides consulting and technology, and outsourcing services in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Financial Services, Health Sciences, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media and Technology.